Tagged With "vulnerable Californians"
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'A hidden health crisis': Toxic stress driving up Kern death rates [The Bakersfield Californian]
An invisible disease has been killing middle-aged white people throughout the southern San Joaquin Valley at higher rates than ever before. The disease can’t be detected by a blood test or remedied with a prescription. It’s been referred to as one of the country’s greatest unaddressed public health crises and a rising “epidemic of white death.” The disease is toxic stress, a result of childhood trauma and other environmental stressors like poverty, food insecurity and basic living needs not...
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California issues update on state residents' ACE scores from 2011 & 2013 surveys
The latest adverse childhood experiences survey from the California Department of Public Health shows that 42% of the population has an ACE score of 3 or higher; 16% have an ACE score of 4 or higher. Those with an ACE score of 4 or higher are: 3x more likely to be current smokers 4x more likely to have a depressive disorder 2x more likely to have asthma 2x more likely to be obese 4x more likely to have COPD 3x more likely to have a stroke Here are a few other highlights from the six-page...
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California Launches New Comprehensive, Consumer-Friendly Website and Public Service Announcements to Boost COVID-19 Awareness [gov.ca.gov]
From Office of Governor Gavin Newsom, March 18, 2020 New, one-stop state website: www.covid19.ca.gov New PSAs feature California Department of Public Health Director Dr. Sonia Angell and California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris SACRAMENTO – California Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the launch of a new Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) public awareness campaign to provide useful information to Californians and inform them of actions they can take to further prevent the spread of...
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Young children are hardest to count but have most at stake in 2020 census [dailycal.org]
By Kim Goll, The Daily Californian, May 8, 2020 Today in California, there are an estimated 210,000 children younger than 6 hiding in plain sight — they weren’t counted in the last U.S. census. As a result, communities in our state missed out on a decade’s worth of crucial funding for programs to support them, including those that provide basic necessities such as food, shelter and health care. The census is mandated by the U.S. Constitution and determines how billions of dollars of federal...
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State Dropping Ball in Dealing With Childhood Trauma, New Report Says [CaliforniaHealthline.org]
The lowest of 31 grades issued in the 2016 California Children's Report Card released on Wednesday was for dealing with the effects of childhood trauma. In Children Now's biennial assessment of the status of California kids, researchers gave the state a "D-" for how it deals with childhood trauma. The report contends that children who experience traumatic problems such as abuse, neglect and witnessing violence at home can suffer serious long-term consequences, including health...
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Santa Monica may recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day (sdmp.com)
Santa Monica may decide to observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day at the request of a Chicanx student group at Santa Monica High School. The City Council will vote Tuesday to join more than 130 other cities around the country in recognizing the second Monday in October of each year as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The holiday was first proposed in 1977 by a delegation of Native Nations to the United Nations. Last month, the local Santa Monica High School chapter of el Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de...
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The California Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review [ CMQCC, CDPH, MCAH, PHI]
New reports, recently released: The California Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review (CA-PAMR) is a statewide, in-depth examination of deaths while pregnant or within one year after end of pregnancy, which aims to identify the cause and timing of death, factors that contributed to the death, and improvement opportunities in maternity care and support, with the ultimate goal to reduce preventable deaths and associated health disparities. CA-PAMR is a collaborative effort between the Maternal,...
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The Love In The Air Is Thicker Than The Smoke
As a native Californian I knew it was important to be prepared for a natural disaster, however in my mind, I was preparing for an earthquake. Never in a million years did I envision a fire storm, let alone multiple fire storms raging across the state and across my community all at the same time! Before the Northern California fire storm our family felt well prepared for an earthquake, we had our camping gear, nonperishable goods, medications, and more staged in an easy to access location in...
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Translating Child Adversity Data into Actionable Information [NACCHO] Sept 2018
The California Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative launched a new set of child adversity and resilience data indicators on Kidsdata.org Furthermore, the initiative created state and local dashboards to bring together sources of data that represent a broader set of life experiences than originally reflected in the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study, such as living in poverty or dangerous neighborhoods. The goal was to make these data widely available and provide training on how...
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New Hotline Available to Help California's Most Vulnerable During Power Shutoffs
The State of California, Health and Human Services Agency has established a non-emergency hotline to help medically vulnerable Californians and health and community care facilities find resources in their communities during power shutoffs. Please see the Word attachment for more information.
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Our View: Confronting Kern's long-running fight against toxic stress [Bakersfield.com]
We've long known that there's something cyclical about poverty, chronic drug abuse and other life-defeating circumstances. We in Kern County hear descriptors like "Appalachia of the West" and shrug, often chalking up the conditions that create cultures of pervasive hopelessness to laziness or ignorance or Darwinian selection. The widespread perception about these ills, particularly common in the poverty-wracked Kern County communities of the Kern River Valley, Oildale and Taft, is that...
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Press Release — New Survey of California Community College Students Reveals More than Half Face Food Insecurity and Nearly 20 Percent Have Faced Homelessness [California Community Colleges]
Press Release — New Survey of California Community College Students Reveals More than Half Face Food Insecurity and Nearly 20 Percent Have Faced Homelessness March 7, 2019 Sacramento — More than half the students attending a California community college have trouble affording balanced meals or worry about running out of food, and nearly 1 in 5 are either homeless or do not have a stable place to live, according to a survey released today. Click HERE to read the press release and click HERE...
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Proposition 47: A failure to learn history’s lesson (sacbee.com)
In their laudable effort to reverse mass incarceration, California policymakers have been too slow to provide felons with necessary care and treatment upon their release. That’s among the conclusions to be gleaned from an important reporting project by newspapers in Palm Springs, Ventura, Salinas and Redding analyzing Proposition 47, the 2014 initiative that cut penalties for drug possession and property theft, and reduced many crimes to misdemeanors. “Thousands of addicts and mentally ill...
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Climate change is going to cost California, and the bill will be staggering (calmatters.org)
As California lawmakers struggled this week to address an apparent new normal of epic wildfires, there was an inescapable subtext: Climate change is going to be staggeringly expensive, and virtually every Californian is going to have to pay for it. The day before a special wildfire committee agreed to spend $200 million on tree clearance and let utilities pass on to their customers the multi-billion-dollar costs of just one year’s fire damage, the state released a sobering report detailing...
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California Power Shutoff: How PG&E's Actions Hit the Medically Vulnerable the Hardest [theguardian.com]
By Vivian Ho, The Guardian, October 11, 2019 Deanne Mediati learned of northern California’s massive power shutoff when her husband shook her awake at 3.30 in the morning on Wednesday. “Honey, the power is out,” he told her. “You’re not breathing.” Mediati, 59, has hypoxia and requires an oxygen concentrator to breathe when she sleeps. Like everything else running on electricity in 600,000 California homes and businesses this week, her oxygen concentrator stopped working when the country’s...
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Health Leaders Invite Innovation to Improve California’s Health [CDPH.ca.gov]
Health leaders are challenging communities statewide to find creative, innovative ways to improve the health of all Californians. The California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS) and California Department of Public Health (CDPH) today announced the second annual Innovation Challenge from Let’s Get Healthy California, a statewide collaborative effort to improve the health of every Californian. Innovation Challenge 2.0 encourages community and health advocates across the state to share...
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In midst of high poverty, homelessness, North Monterey County students get free meals [thecalifornian.com]
From The Californian: "All public school students in North Monterey County have free school meals for another school year, intended to help a region that is experiencing high levels of youth homelessness and family poverty."
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Interactive Map: Where are Californians Dying of Opioids? We Chart the Path. (bakersfield.com)
Almost 2,000 people died in California last year of opioid overdoses as a sprawling epidemic made its way to the west coast. Where is the death toll the worst? The California mapped out where the state's opioid death rates were the highest in 2016 - and all are in locations that lack Medication Assisted Treatment facilities, which are also mapped here. To read more of Harold Pierce's article, please click here. Harold Pierce covers education and health for The Californian.
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'Why Do We Always Get Hit First?' Proposed Budget Cuts Target Vulnerable Californians [californiahealthline.org]
By Samantha Young, California Healthline, May 29, 2020 Shirley Madden, 83, relies on a caregiver and her two grown daughters to remain living at home — and not in a nursing home. Her daughters, 55-year-old Carrie and 60-year-old Kristy Madden, both use wheelchairs and need a second caregiver to help them navigate their own daily lives. But that critical caregiving support, along with other health care benefits for millions of Californians, could be scaled back to help plug a massive budget...
Comment
Re: 'A turning point': California education leaders speak out about racism and police brutality [edsource.org]
A powerful set of quotes from educational and other leaders in CA. I am glad to be a Californian. Thank you for sharing, Rafael.
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The lasting impact of trauma on current health [eccalifornian.com]
By Sharp Grossmont Hospital Health News Team, East County Californian, July 17, 2020 If you experienced trauma as a child, you are not alone. In a landmark 1998 study, two-thirds of respondents reported having a traumatic experience in their early years. The study also revealed a link between trauma in a person’s past and poor health later in life. Trauma results from exposure to an incident or series of events that is emotionally disturbing or life-threatening. Examples include: Physical or...
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2020 Census Update – We’re Making Progress, but Our Work is Not Done! [childrennow.org]
WE HAVE THREE MONTHS LEFT: LET’S ENSURE EVERYONE IS COUNTED! Since our last 2020 Census update, there have been some new developments we are pleased to share. In April, our California Census response rate was 54 percent, and as of July 27th, 2020 , it is 63.9% . That is a nearly 10-percent increase during a once-in-a-century pandemic – which is amazing progress! Let’s keep the momentum going and increase the self-response numbers through October 31, 2020. The California Complete Count –...
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Wonderful Co. unveils $1 million pandemic relief fund [bakersfield.com]
By John Cox, The Bakersfield Californian, August 3, 2020 One of the Central Valley's largest agricultural companies has responded to the many needs that have arisen during the pandemic by again focusing its considerable largesse on the communities where its employees live and work. The Wonderful Co. was planning today to unveil a $1 million relief fund it hopes will prompt nonprofits to propose various initiatives to help local farmworkers, health-care providers and others who continue to...
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Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic: One-Pager
Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic: One-Pager
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For first time, heads of all California's public education systems are Black or Latino [edsource.org]
By Louis Freedberg, EdSource, October 21, 2020 California is the most diverse state in the nation, so having a diverse leadership of its schools and colleges shouldn’t be that notable. But it is. Even for California. This January when Joseph Castro, a Mexican-American and native Californian, becomes chancellor of the 23-campus California State University system, for the first time, leaders of color will head up all four systems of public education in the state. [ Please click here to read...
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New Resource: Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic One-Pager (English & Spanish!)
English: The California Department of Public Health, Injury and Prevention Branch (CDPH/IVPB) and the California Department of Social Service, Office of Child Abuse Prevention’s (CDSS/OCAP) , Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative , ACEs Connection , and the Yolo County Children’s Alliance have co-created a newly developed resource, “Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic” in both English and Spanish. This material is intended for Californian families experiencing the severe...
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Newsom refuerza su compromiso de brindar refugio a los trabajadores agrícolas a pesar de que hay pocos interesados [calmatters.org]
Por Jackie Botts, Cal Matters, March 24, 2021 Atendiendo las llamadas de defensores y legisladores, el gobernador Gavin Newsom está inyectando hasta $24 millones en su programa, frecuentemente promocionado pero poco utilizado, para ayudar a los trabajadores agrícolas a aislarse durante la pandemia, ofreciendo nueva asistencia financiera y flexibilidad. Sin embargo, no está claro cuánto se gastará realmente. Newsom anunció el innovador programa Vivienda para la Cosecha el verano pasado para...
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Newsom proposes major funding increase for student mental health services [edsource.org]
By Carolyn Jones, EdSource, May 14, 2021 After a year marked by anxiety and isolation for many young people, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a windfall for youth mental health services in California on Friday. In his updates to his proposed 2021-22 budget , Newsom increased funding for school and community counseling programs that will make therapy and other mental health services available to every Californian under age 26, he said. “The (budget revision) proposes a statewide and comprehensive...
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Resource: Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic One-Pager in English and Spanish
Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic is now available in ADA compliant English and Spanish versions! Please share the attached resource with your networks, the families you serve, or where families access meals or food boxes through the school community or food distribution centers. Here’s more information about the document: The California Department of Public Health, Injury and Prevention Branch (CDPH/IVPB) and the California Department of Social Service, Office of Child Abuse...
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Resource: Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic One-Pager (English & Spanish!)
English: The California Department of Public Health, Injury and Prevention Branch (CDPH/IVPB) and the California Department of Social Service, Office of Child Abuse Prevention’s (CDSS/OCAP) , Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative , ACEs Connection , and the Yolo County Children’s Alliance co-created “Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic” in both English and Spanish. This material is intended for Californian families experiencing the severe economic consequences resulting from...
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A message from PI’s Director of Health Equity: Renaming taps into broader processes of inclusion, truth-telling and reconciliation [preventioninstitute.org]
It was almost a year ago today that I, as a former California State Park and Recreation Commissioner, along with my fellow Commissioner, Ernest Chung, lauded our state’s Department of Parks and Recreation for its plan to identify and act on discriminatory and dehumanizing names on parks in our October 2020 article that appeared in CalMatters. At the time, Ernest and I also urged the department to "take this opportunity to honor and celebrate the rich culture and histories of Native...
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New Report: California Household Firearm Storage Practices, 2017-2019
The CDPH Injury and Violence Prevention Branch , on behalf of the CDPH Violence Prevention Initiative , has released a new report on household firearm storage titled “ California Household Firearm Storage Practices, 2017-2019 .” Using survey data from the 2017-2019 California Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), the report shows that one in five California adults reported a household firearm. Of those who reported a household firearm, one in ten also reported storing it...
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Upcoming 6/9 Webinar and New Report and Brief: Community Strategies to Address California’s Digital Divide and Its Impact on Children and Families
PACEs Connection and the Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative, a project of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) have developed two new resources, “Community Strategies to Address California’s Digital Divide and Its Impact on Children and Families” Report and the “Digital Divide Brief: Community Strategies to Address California’s Digital Divide and Its Impact on Children and Families”
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ATTENTION ALL CALIFORNIANS, we need your help today
Californians Support AB 2660. Write now!
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The 2023 Resilient Yolo Summit: Connecting, Reflecting, and Acting to Champion Change
PACEs Connection has been in the throes of a powerful collaboration about trauma-informed awareness, resilience, relationship and community building and mobilization with the Resilient Yolo team. We’re days away from the 2023 Resilient Yolo Summit , a call to action for Yoloans to connect with neighbors, reflect on experiences, and act together for a trauma-informed and resilient Yolo. Yolo County, which is said to draw its name from a Patwin Native American name Yo-loy, meaning “a place...